Milling cutters for rough milling operations are well known. Such milling cutters typically comprise a cutter body, which is a generally circular shaped ring, having a plurality of pockets in an outer periphery thereof. A cutting insert is secured in each pocket. Each cutting insert comprises a body and at least one cutting edge. The body is secured directly in the pocket or to a cartridge, which is secured in the pocket. Similar milling cutters are known for finish milling operations. Such milling cutters have an abrasive material thereon, instead of having cutting inserts secured thereto. For milling a workpiece, the two milling cutters are used successively. After milling the workpiece with a rough milling cutter, the rough milling cutter is replaced with the finish milling cutter. Replacing the rough milling cutter with the finish milling cutter is a burdensome, time-consuming task.
What is needed is a single milling tool that is capable of rough and finish milling during a single operation. Ideally, such a tool would include a cutter body having a plurality of cutting inserts releasably secured to an outer periphery thereof for rough milling purposes and an abrasive material, like diamond or cubic boron nitride (CBN), secured to a face thereof for finish milling purposes. By placing the abrasive material farther from the cutter body than the cutting inserts, rough and finish milling operations can be accomplished during a single milling operation.